- Oct 6, 2011
- 3
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Greetings from 2 retired folks in southwest Spotsylvania County VA. We're out in the country on modest acreage and decided to start raising chickens to complement our horses and cats.
We got our first chicks in February - 3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Barred Rocks. Turns out 2 of the Rocks were cockerels and one was meaner than mean - he made a tasty dinner. . . . Our girls gave us their first egg on July 31st at about 18 weeks. Since then they lay 3 to 4 eggs daily. At least up to this week - sadly, a dog killed one our Reds and we're back to 3 a day.
Being new to chickens we didn't know exactly what to do for a coop and run. BYC folks had good ideas that we adapted to our situation and needs. We converted the back ½ of a garden shed to a coop with 3 nesting boxes, 3 roosts at various heights and plenty of ventilation. The coop opens to a 12 x 12 run with a couple of roosts.
We put the chicks in the coop/run about mid May but because we were not eager to let them free range, they stayed there thru June. Thats when we decided to let them free range they love it, our bug population has noticeably diminished and they put themselves to bed each day about an hour before sunset.
We got our first chicks in February - 3 Rhode Island Reds and 3 Barred Rocks. Turns out 2 of the Rocks were cockerels and one was meaner than mean - he made a tasty dinner. . . . Our girls gave us their first egg on July 31st at about 18 weeks. Since then they lay 3 to 4 eggs daily. At least up to this week - sadly, a dog killed one our Reds and we're back to 3 a day.
Being new to chickens we didn't know exactly what to do for a coop and run. BYC folks had good ideas that we adapted to our situation and needs. We converted the back ½ of a garden shed to a coop with 3 nesting boxes, 3 roosts at various heights and plenty of ventilation. The coop opens to a 12 x 12 run with a couple of roosts.
We put the chicks in the coop/run about mid May but because we were not eager to let them free range, they stayed there thru June. Thats when we decided to let them free range they love it, our bug population has noticeably diminished and they put themselves to bed each day about an hour before sunset.
